Oregon at the GABF

Note the update below, which clarifies the GABF selection process.

Every year the GABF comes and goes and I cast a momentarily longing eye toward Denver--then whinge with indignity that our breweries didn't sweep the medals. Well, for once, my eye won't be longing. I applied for and was miraculously granted a media credential. This means I'll be able to try to sample a vast array of American beers without having to travel a vast array of miles--handy for someone writing a book on beer. It also means I'll be blogging about the fest. To the extent possible, I'll give you a blogger's-eye-view of things, with maybe a dish or two along the way.

For today's post, we have news about the attendees. I was surprised to see the Oregon contingent ringing in at an impressive 27 breweries--or 5.7% of all breweries in attendence. They are:

10 Barrel Brewing Company

Barley Brown’s Brew Pub

Bend Brewing Co.

Breakside Brewery

BridgePort Brewing

Cascade Lakes

The Commons Brewery (Beetje)

Deschutes Brewery

Full Sail Brewing Company

GoodLife Brewing Company (Bend)

Hop Valley Brewing Co.

Hopworks Urban Brewery

Laurelwood

MacTarnahan’s Brewing Company

Ninkasi Brewing Company

Oakshire Brewing Company

Pelican Pub & Brewery

Ram Restaurant & Brewery – Clackamas

Ram Restaurant & Brewery – Salem

Rogue Ales

Seven Brides Brewing

Silver Moon Brewing

Standing Stone Brewing Company

Steelhead Brewing Company

Three Creeks Brewing Company

Upright Brewing Company

Widmer Brothers Brewing Co

That's nothing compared with California (84,* 18% of all breweries) or Colorado (74,* 16% of all breweries), but pretty good. Washington, incidentally, has 24 breweries in attendance. The full list can be seen here.

Update. Thanks to a comment below, I realize it may not be obvious by this post how the GABF selects breweries. Answer: it doesn't. It's not like Sundance, where even getting into the fest is a big deal. Pay your shekels and you're in. You don't even have to be a craft brewery. So the numbers I cited for participation are purely based on the interest of the breweries in the states themselves.
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*It's actually a little hard to calculate numbers because contract brewing and mergers screw things up. For example, Genessee, Pyramid, and Magic Hat are listed as "Oregon" breweries. Miller is listed as a Colorado brewery. I trimmed the Oregon list and did what I could with CA and CO, but I wouldn't consider these bulletproof counts.